In 2007, Peace Corps volunteer Peter DiCampo was out walking with his camera one night in the Ghanaian village of Wantugu when he came across a group of children inside a dark mosque. They were huddled around a Quran, their faces lit only by the glow of flashlights clutched in their hands. The scene was hauntingly beautiful but also captured a grave reality: Some 1.3 billion people, one-fifth of the world's population, live without electricity, as the Wantugu villagers then did. Since that night, DiCampo has devoted the past half-decade to his project "Life Without Lights," using nighttime photographs, illuminated only by fire or battery-powered light, to bring attention to the world's powerless poor. Aside from Ghana, he has documented the off-grid community of Pajarito Mesa, New Mexico, remote villages in Iraqi Kurdistan, and families in Birmingham, England, who couldn't afford electricity this past winter. Next stop: Uganda.
Above, a young man poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010. The villagers of Voggu are among the 1.3 billion people worldwide who live without electricity. There were power lines in Voggu for years, but they were never connected to electricity. The material for the lines was eventually stolen, presumably to be sold as scrap metal.
Peter DiCampo
A girl, sweating from dancing, poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
Men pose for a portrait lit with flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 20, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
Manuel and Dorris pose for a portrait lit with flashlights in Pajarito Mesa, New Mexico, on May 29, 2010. Residents of Pajarito Mesa legally own their land, but the area was never officially subdivided for homes and thus has yet to be provided with proper roads, electricity, or plumbing.
Peter DiCampo
Ana Maria Mendoya Aluidia, 6 years old, poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Pajarito Mesa, New Mexico, on June 3, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
The Aluidia family poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Pajarito Mesa, New Mexico, on June 3, 2010. The family -- mother and father, with seven of their own children and a niece and nephew living with them -- lives in a small trailer on the mesa and only turns on its generator for a few hours each day to keep the refrigerator cold, watch television, and use a fan.
Peter DiCampo
Najma Ismajil Mohammed, 74, poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Nawjool, Chamchamal district, Sulaymaniyah governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan, on July 5, 2010. Of her six children, three were killed in Saddam Hussein's 1988 genocide against the Kurds, and another was killed in the conflict that followed. Nawjool was a district capital with electricity and running water prior to the genocide. Few people returned to the village, and now, after years of conflict, economic instability, and sanctions on the region, only a handful of families remain.
Peter DiCampo
Nashmil Aziz Rashid, her brother-in-law, Khalaf Mohammed Qochakh, and the children of their household pose for a portrait lit with flashlights in Binika, Kifri district, Diyala governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan, on July 11, 2010. The red flare in the background is from nearby oil fields. "I love this place," says Rashid. "But I'll leave too if the government doesn't bring electricity, water, and schools. We're worried about the future for our children." Binika was once a thriving community with over 150 families, electricity, schools, and a clinic, but it was never completely rebuilt after Saddam Hussein's 1988 genocide against the Kurds. Few people returned to the village, and now, after years of conflict, economic instability, and sanctions on the region, only a handful of families remain.
Peter DiCampo
Layla Hussein Ali poses for a portrait lit with flashlights in Nawjool, Chamchamal district, Sulaymaniyah governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan, on July 5, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
Girls pose for a portrait lit with flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
A girl poses for a portrait lit by flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
A group of boys pose for a portrait lit with flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
A girl poses for a portrait lit by flashlights in Voggu, Northern Region, Ghana, on Feb. 19, 2010.
Peter DiCampo
